The much-loved comedy drama is coming back to ITV after 13 years, with John explaining why now couldn't have been a better time for Cold Feet's highly-anticipated resurrection.

"The hunger has always been there," he said. "Mike was ready to write another one - so the timing was perfect.

"The world isn't a great place right now and we know that. There is a great need for nostalgia back in the days when things were OK, and I think with everything being so troubled, something feelgood and aspirational was needed. The timing couldn't be better."

And John also revealed that the backstory of the five main characters is up to the imagination of the viewers.

"We've not created a 13-year backstory," he said. "You could, but I think it's detrimental.

"It's down to us and the viewers' imaginations to imagine what took place in those 13 years. You find us now, not where we left off… You have to imagine what's gone before.

"If you think Pete had a failed relationship with a woman who wanted a Green Card, a wife pregnant with another man's baby, and one of his best friends dying, Pete's in a better place than he was at the start!

"It's the ordinariness, the day-to-day problems that these couples experience, but with Mike's slant with that make it special."

Cold Feet returns to ITV for eight all-new episodes later in the year.